(AP Photo/Gregorio Borgia). This aerial photo shows the historical part of the town of Amatrice, central Italy, after an natural disaster, Wednesday, Aug. 24, 2016.
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Premier Matteo Renzi, visiting the quake-affected zone Wednesday, promised to rebuild “and guarantee a reconstruction that will allow residents to live in these communities, to relaunch these lovely towns that have a wonderful past that will never end”.
But there were wails when bodies emerged.
With 368 people injured, some critically, and an unknown number still trapped in mountains of rubble on Thursday morning, the toll was expected to rise further.
Amatrice was this weekend set to hold its 50th annual food festival celebrating its famous spaghetti all’amatriciana, a pasta dish with a tomato-based sauce flavoured with guanciale, or cured pork cheek.
“I’m told this was short [for an earthquake], it was 20 seconds, but they felt very, very long, those 20 seconds”.
Firefighters’ spokesman Luca Cari said one body had been pulled out of the hotel rubble just before dawn after five were extracted earlier but searches continued there and elsewhere.
The magnitude 6 quake struck at 3:36 a.m. (0136 GMT) and was felt across a broad swath of cen.
Late on Wednesday there were cheers in the village of Pescara del Tronto when a young girl was pulled alive from the rubble after being trapped for 17 hours.
“I haven’t slept much because I was really afraid”, said 70-year-old Arturo Onesi from the town of Arquata del Tronto, who spent the night in a tent camp for survivors and rescue workers.
About 270 people injured in Wednesday’s quake were hospitalised, the Civil Protection department said, adding that about 5,000 people, including police, firefighters, army troops and volunteers, were involved in post-quake operations.
“The whole ceiling fell but did not hit me”, marveled resident Maria Gianni.
Another woman, sitting in front of her destroyed home with a blanket over her shoulders, said she didn’t know what had become of her loved ones.
” ‘It was one of the most handsome towns of Italy and now there’s nothing left, ‘ she said, too distraught to give her name”.
As the August sun turned into a nighttime chill, residents, civil protection workers and even priests dug with shovels, bulldozers and their bare hands to reach survivors.
“It looks like there are multiple homes that have come down completely into the roads”, he said.
“So the tiny town of Accumoli … the mayor said is only a population of 700 but it swells to about 2,500 in the summer”, she says, raising concerns about high casualty numbers.
“The objective is to rebuild and start again”, he said.
“There’s no sound from them, we only heard their cats”.
UN Secretary General Ban Ki-moon offered his “deepest condolences” and said the UN was ready to help while U.S. President Barack Obama offered American assistance with recovery efforts.
Pope Francis skipped his traditional catechism for his Wednesday general audience and instead invited the thousands of pilgrims in St. Peter’s Square to recite the rosary with him. She also survived but lost her husband.
Amatrice-the stunning historical town that was largely levelled by the quake-is known for its Cento Chiese (100 churches) filled with art including sculptures, mosaics, and frescoes.
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Frances D’Emilio reported from Amatrice, Italy, Nicole Winfield reported from Rome.
